So, this cabinet is a funny story. I mean, what visit of mine to IKEA hasn’t been a infuriating funny story?! We bought this cabinet (no longer available, similar one here) for additional storage and upon learning how expensive the delivery charge would be, we ended up leaving with a couch to justify the added expense. It still make sense to us, hehe.

Ever since we got it though, I’ve wanted to do something to make it stand out a bit more. So, I ordered some marble contact paper online, dug out an old ruler (from my graphic design classes in college) and made a quick update. Remember when we used to use contact paper to cover school books? Why did we have to use the lame clear stuff?!

Making sure the paper applied smoothly was the toughest part, but going slowly should prevent any bubbles. Those I did find I was able to press out any that popped up pretty easily.

I love how much the marble paper lightened up a plain IKEA cabinet and made it look a little less pre-fab. It’ll do until one day some actual marble to could make an appearance in our home . . . a girl can dream.

First, a little announcement. I’ve decided to discontinue the Weekly Web Tacks series for the time being. As my work schedule has picked up, it’s been difficult to post every week. Thanks for checking it out and for all of my favorite web reads about life in Asia, travel and everything else, be sure to follow me on Twitter.

And now, on to the crafty stuff.

Whenever we have guests come to down, I always get the urge to do little projects around our apartment to spruce things up. We’re lucky to have two friends in town right now (they’ll be spending 10 total days with us), so before their arrival I crossed two easy DIYs off my list.

Washi tape is a huge DIY trend in Asia and abroad. This colorful tape is easy to work with and can allow you to make a drastic change to everyday items quickly. I decided to use some washi tape I bought all too long ago to make this white, plastic tissue box a bit more exciting. The tape can easily be applied and moved around on a smooth surface like plastic, so there wasn’t much anxiety involved in this one in terms of making mistakes. I started with one color and then went for two for some extra shine.

The entire process was just three steps:

Place washi tape in desired spot to create stripe(s).

Cut the washi tape.

Fold over cut ends.

That’s it! It took no time at all and now we have a more attractive way to store a very practical item. Have you tried to use washi tape? Let me know what for. I’ll share my second project next week. Stay tuned!

So, my last DIY was pretty time consuming and, well, painful. But there are still some items in our now vast collection of IKEA furniture that I want to tweak, so I’m back at it. Wanting to complete our fall bedroom update, I went for our Brusali nightstands.

These nightstands match our bed (which I adore) and have plenty of storage but they’re just a little . . . bleh. I was eying a much-less-practical set of bright yellow ones but was talked out of it, although a bit more easily than the coffee table. I knew I wanted to do something to make them more exciting but again, didn’t want to deal with painting them.

I was wondering around Etsy, as housewives and women who work from home tend to do, when I came across some gold vinyl stickers in the Chick Design Boutique shop. I know, gold vinyl circle stickers are having a major moment as wall decor, but I was drawn to the triangles. And then I got my idea. Vinyl stickers are durable and stay securely in place, but the best part is they’re easily removed when you tire of them.

A craft with minimal effort and commitment? Done.

I ordered the 4.5-inch stickers and they included a bonus fifth sticker, which was good insurance in case I made a mistake. Beyond that, all you need is some blue painter’s tape, a ruler or straight edge of some kind and a pencil. I used the ruler and pencil to measure and mark the center of the nightstand door and then secured the tape, which became a guide for the first sticker. After I had that one in place, I removed the tape, placed the second triangle flush to the first and voila! New nightstands.

As I said before, these stickers were incredibly easy to work with and could be adjusted and moved several times without damage. If this apartment had smooth walls (we have standard Japanese textured wallpaper), I’m sure I would find more places to put them.

I’m so happy with the finished product and oh yeah, this DIY cost less than $10.

Craig and I booked out tickets this week to fly home Jan.1 and we couldn’t be more excited — it will have been almost 11 months since we left by then. Of course, I’m already making packing lists and shopping lists for the trip. What a shock, I know.

Well, I’m happy to report the effects of the typhoon haven’t been too intense here in Tokyo, but the rain is supposed to continue through Wednesday. We hung inside today to get work done and take care of a few chores around the house. I got some much needed cleaning done, sent out a few pitches and enjoyed cooking, starting with those whole wheat and brown sugar pancakes above. It never ceases to amaze me how much more productive and energetic I feel throughout the day when I make all our meals from scratch. Eating healthy and homemade can be hard to stick to with a mini kitchen, but today was a reminder to keep at it.

I hope your week is off to a great start. I’m hoping this rain goes away so I can enjoy some of the events for Tokyo Fashion Week.

Have a great day!

Spotted a photo shoot taking place outside our building. Not sure what for, but I did see men in futuristic-looking costumes later on in the day.

I’m not a crafter, although I’ve always loved studying art and taking art classes. The crafter in me was worn down by years of over-achieving science projects, book reports and student council posters.

Now that I work from home, my schedule is obviously more flexible. Having only a few rooms to occupy on a daily basis also means I’m constantly looking for ways to tweak my surroundings. Our coffee table was my first DIY victim.

This table was a lesson in Marriage Compromise 101. After spending hours scavenging the IKEA website and making up mock layouts on Photoshop — I wish I was kidding — I had decided on all the items of furniture and decor I wanted to outfit our new home. Craig went along with 95 percent of them, but his strongest veto came when I picked out a bright blue metal table on coasters. It was small. It was sort of flashy. It was $80. He wasn’t buying it. I (begrudgingly) gave in and we settled on the LACK Coffee Table, which if memory serves was on sale for a shockingly low price.

While it matched our decor, I tried to keep my dislike of the table to myself. Who hates a table, right? But when I got the itch to do something to it instead of replacing a perfectly good table, I started looking online. When I found this hack, I knew I had to give it a try. I mean, it’s a craft with TACKS. Come on.

All you need is a hammer and about 1,000 thumbtacks of your choosing. I went with brass because the table is dark brown and I’d already been adding hints of gold and brass around our apartment. After thinking my eyes and anal-retentiveness would be enough to help me make straight lines, I faced reality and went for the painter’s tape. Thank goodness. The thumbtacks drove into the hollow table pretty easily, but pushing them in before using the hammer took a toll on my poor thumbs after a while.

All in all, the project took about five hours of labor spread over the course of a week. It would have come together sooner had I not come up about 80 thumbtacks short (see picture No. 4 and imagine the fury) and had to order another box. I love how the table looks now because it’s no longer matchy-matchy with the rest of our furniture and looks more like a higher-end piece.

Give it a try for yourself! And remember to Like 100 Tacks on Facebook for more updates. See you tomorrow — I’m off to take an anti-inflammatory and ice my thumbs.